Fall 2004

In This Issue:

• John Bertles: Musical Trash Basher
• Extreme Makeover for Old CDs
• Web Citings
• Subscribe to Recycling Rag

John Bertles: Musical Trash Basher

John Bertles is one of a growing group of musicians who can--and literally does--play anything. Classically trained (Bertles earned a master's degree in music composition from Columbia University in 1985), he put aside ready-made instruments to develop new compositions and sound sources from materials not usually considered musical. His work, "Evils of Pots" (1994), has been performed in Lincoln Center and cities throughout the world.

Bertles studied the clarinet in high school, and jammed with a friend in their families' basements. Unable to buy additional instruments but eager to add more variety to their arrangements, they improvised and expanded their sound by beating on plastic salad bowls and flat sheets of metal. During the process, John learned that "it was easier to play a homemade instrument than a store-bought one." As a Bennington College music major, he learned how to create non-traditional instruments from Gunnar Schonbeck, a teacher and composer who invents them.

BTT plays Trio for Bendable Instruments.

During the 1980s, Bertles did it all: he played in rock bands while writing and performing music for circuses, theater, and street theater. In 1987, he also started looking for steady employment, and taught a well-received workshop in instrument making to elementary school children. Building on its success, he gave more workshops the next year and also organized Bash the Trash (BTT), a group of professional musicians using homemade instruments as teaching tools. Young students learned how to reuse found materials (e.g., styrofoam, plastic bottles, fishing line) to make instruments, how to use rhyme and rhythm to produce rap, and the science of how musical instruments work.

BTT participant plays a new sneakerphone instrument.

Hands-on demonstrations examine why big instruments have lower sounds than small instruments and why different kinds of materials make different tone qualities (e.g., why a string vibrates differently than a reed).

Bash the Trash has participated in teaching programs for the New York Philharmonic's Young People's Concerts, the American Museum of Natural History, and Carnegie Hall. In 2003, BTT presented 100 programs for 30,000 students. Bertles currently offers programs for teachers at the Kennedy Center and is lead teaching artist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. In the early 1990s, he joined and performed with Music for Homemade Instruments, a group of composer/performers that creates its own music (and sometimes builds additional instruments on which to play it) for adult audiences. This innovative group still performs occasionally.

To learn how to make instruments at home, and to find out more about John Bertles, check out his website (http://www.Bashthetrash.com).

Extreme Makeover for Old CDs

What do you do with old CDs after you've finished making coasters and room dividers? One man's answer goes beyond most people's wildest dreams.

Five years ago, environmentalist and musician George Radebaugh, who lives in Washington State, found himself with nothing to do. During a cold winter's evening, he spread several CDs on the floor to enjoy "the exciting rainbow reflections," and then decided to use them to make sculptures. (A musician, he has no formal training in sculpture, but acts as a handyman when necessary.) Radebaugh built whatever came to mind--a fish, a flamingo, a guitar, and a project (29 Palms), that he moved from place to place. "The palms never stuck around in any one place for more than a day or two," he said. "They would spring up in the morning and disappear that night or the next." Radebaugh took the Palms on the road for three months.

Radebaugh's sculptures use large quantities of CDs. Individual pieces take about 400. The 29 Palms used 10,000. Discovering that collecting individual CDs took too long, he eventually came upon a cornucopia of CDs when he got on a listserve for libraries. Most libraries regularly discard outdated CDs. It was a win-win arrangement: he received supplies and the libraries avoided paying to have the CDs hauled away and recycled.

The Palms project was supported by 29 people who bought a 29th share in the idea for $29 each. "They each got a tree when the installations were over in the fall of 2000," he said. "So many more people wanted them after the event that I ended up building about 70." Several are in his hometown, but many live in other places. Those displayed only in the summer months do better than those left out all year. If CD sculptures are left outside, they deteriorate over a period of years and look unsightly if not maintained. "If you leave a piece in wet grass in the sun," said Radebaugh, "it can be ruined in one day." The indoor pieces show no deterioration, even after being displayed for many years.

"The demise of the sculptures creates a problem in what to do with the old CDs and armature, etc. There's not much that's natural about them. This is one of the reasons that I've stopped building them," he said. "They are so much fun while new and shiny, but it doesn't last forever. Gee, I wonder if there are other things in life like this." Visit cdsculpture to see more of Radebaugh's work. (http://www.cdsculpture.com)

• Google has many excellent articles listing craft projects with CDs. Family Crafts has a good selection for children
  (Family Crafts).


• Digs Magazine offers 10 suggestions for creating items to help furnish your home.
  (Digs Magazine).

Web Citings

SASS Magazine

SASS is a free, online magazine showcasing eco-friendly lifestyles for ages 16-124. It is one project of the Sustainable Style Foundation's many projects, and covers fashion, sports, interior design, travel, politics, sports . . . everything.
http://www.sustainablestyle.org

Sustainable Style Foundation

Sustainable Style Foundation is an international, nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about sustainability and to promoting options of sustainable choices in all areas of life.
http://www.sustainablestyle.org

The Terra Grass Armchair

The terra grass armchair is literally made of grass, which grows over the form that arrives in a kit. Once assembled by you, it becomes part of your garden--even if you usually have a brown thumb. The kit consists of a sturdy, biodegradable cardboard frame and grass seeds. You assemble the frame into its chair-like shape, fill the form with soil, add grass seed, and watch it grow. Trim to taste. Available at The Present Finder Ltd . Approximately US $100.84 plus shipping.